Industrias Peñoles’ dominance in sodium sulfate production is based on its Química del Rey plant, located in Coahuila, Mexico.

Química del Rey is the largest producer of this chemical compound in Latin America. Mexico is the third largest producer of sodium sulfate in the world, behind China and Spain.

Sodium sulfate is used in the manufacture of powder detergent, paper, and specialty glass. It is also used as a color fixative in the textile industry, in textile processes to fix dyes, in heat treatments as a heat transfer medium, and to regulate humidity in certain industrial and laboratory products.

Sodium sulfate production

In Mexico, Química del Rey was the plant with the largest installed capacity in the west. 

According to figures from Inegi, sodium sulfate production in Mexico increased by 2.7% compared to 2023, from 706,416 tons to 725,827 tons. 

The following table shows the trend in sodium sulfate production in Mexico, in thousands of tons:

• 2015: 733.
• 2016: 750.
• 2017: 753.
• 2018: 781.
• 2019: 774.
• 2020: 748.
• 2021: 763.
• 2022: 764.
• 2023: 706.
• 2024: 726.

The value of production was 3.142 billion pesos, representing an increase of 0.8% over the previous year.

Globally, sodium sulfate production was approximately 23 million tons. 

According to the Mexican Mining Chamber (Camimex), this business faces certain logistical challenges in rail distribution and a contraction in domestic demand in the detergent sector. 

Background

In 1963, Química del Rey began operations and Peñoles ventured into the production of inorganic chemicals such as sodium sulfate, magnesium oxide, and magnesium sulfate. 

After successive investments, Plant 2 is currently the sodium sulfate production plant with the largest production capacity outside China (780,000 tons/year). 

Mexico is known as the world’s leading silver producer. However, it is less well known that the country is also one of the world leaders, ranking in the top 10 in the production of nine non-metallic minerals, according to data from Mineral Commodity Summaries.

Sodium sulfate is a white, crystalline salt. It is obtained from natural brine, is highly soluble in water, and is harmless to the environment.